Description: Hotaru checks out Taiyo again, perhaps looking to see if she can find another student like Shingo to fight. Instead she comes across Hayato Nekketsu, who decides to give her a chance to show her stuff!
Taiyo High, late afternoon. Classes are done for the day, but like any campus, it's possible to find students milling about for after-school activities, sports, clubs, or just general hanging out with friends. That's certainly the best time to check out prospective schools to verify their fighting spirit!
The tricky part about all this is picking out just the right person to challenge. Sometimes Hotaru has been able to find students that she recognizes from their appearances in the fighting circuits. Other times, she's fought students that she actually already knew from someplace before. A couple times there's been referrals - other kids telling her who would make a good opponent to try.
Other times she has nothing to go on but pure instinct though. And in her case, that isn't always a sure thing. Presently, Hotaru is standing in the shade of a particularly large building without any windows. Opposite of her is a young man covering his nose, a trickle of blood visible between his fingers. "Ow! What kind of brute are you?!" he yells back at the pig-tailed fighter.
Looking positively dismayed, Hotaru waves her hands in front of her, shaking her head, "What are you talking about? That was a pretty light hit. And not even a fast one by my standards. How come you couldn't handle it? You were doing all kinds of karate moves a minute ago!"
"Karate? What?" the young man looks stupified, "Look girl, I'm in the drama club!" He gestures toward the large building with his thumb, his other hand still kept over his nose, "I was just practicing some pretend moves for the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu play we're doing rehearsals for inside!"
Hotaru's arms lower to her sides, her shoulders slouching a little, "O-oh... I thought- Er, let me go get you paper towels. I'm sorry!"
The young man shakes his head, "Forget it!" and stomps over to the nearest side-door to the large theater building and disappears inside. Resting her hand behind her head, Hotaru sweatdrops slightly. Maybe she should start making appointments ahead of time or something.
"Hey now, what's all the shouting about?" A booming voice rings out from around the corner of the building. A moment later the owner of the voice comes into view; a tall Japanese man with slightly shaggy hair, dressed in a red track suit, with a whistle on a chain around his neck. His hands and forearms are also tightly wrapped in athletic tape. It's quite clear that he's not one of the students here.
Hayato is carrying a shinai in his right hand, which he taps idly against his shoulder as he peers at Hotaru. He chews thoughtfully on a stalk of grass held in the corner of his mouth as he consults his memory. After a moment he nods to himself, then beams at Hotaru with a brilliant white smile. "Well, hello there young lady! Welcome to Taiyo! Are you lost? Need help finding something?" Yes, Hayato knows every single student who attends Taiyo. He knows the names and faces of a number of the Gedo and Justice students, as well. He's not, however, quite so familiar with those who attend Pacific and Seijyun. In the latter case, for some reason the school for refined young ladies doesn't care much for a boisterous, macho man.
"Hmn," Hotaru muses as the young man makes his escape into the building. She glances at her hand, noticing a few red specs of blood on her knuckles from when she socked the kid in the face. She really should wash that off. Glancing side to side, she starts to look for a bathroom when the voice of a middle-aged man makes her stop and glance in Hayato's direction.
Erk! Hotaru clasps her hands behind her back for the express purpose of hiding the bloodied knuckles. No sense in letting some Taiyo teacher know she's around here socking random students. In her normal fighting outfit, there's no indication of which school she might hail from, but it might be possible to surmise that the young Asian female comes from Seijyun just by process of elimination.
"Thank you for the welcome," she says, smiling readily. "I'm not really lost at all," she states. Hard to get lost when not seeking a specific /local/, after all. But with regards to finding something? Hmn... "But I am interested in seeing how well students here can fight!" She brings forward her non-blood-bearing hand, clenched in a fist, "In order to pick the perfect school for my final year of High School, I have to make sure it has the right spirit for me!"
Hayato's smile gets even wider as Hotaru speaks. "An excellent attitude! Wonderful! Far too many kids these days are just interested in laying around on the couch all day, wasting their youth away. But you're seizing life by the horns, going out there and /doing/ something for yourself!" The P.E. instructor is a very... enthusiastic man.
Tapping the shinai against his shoulder again, Hayato takes a moment to look Hotaru over as he talks, trying to get a feel for just how much skill she might have. Not easy when someone is just standing there, of course, but Hayato has a pretty good eye for fighting spirit. "Unfortunately, I don't think any of the students who you'd most like to meet are around at the moment. Club activities, you know. We're big on extracurricular activities here at Taiyo. We've got lots of athletic and enthusiastic students, of course," Not quite as many as Hayato thinks, but just about /everybody/ is athletic and enthusiastic around Hayato, until they drop over from exhaustion, "but not quite ready for prime time." Such as the owner of the blood on Hotaru's knuckles.
"But!" Hayato gestures dramatically toward the sky with his shinai for a moment, then lowers his arm again. "I wouldn't want your trip here to be a waste of time. "Students aren't the only ones who have a sense of school spirit. Would you care for me to show you some of what our school has to offer?" Despite the weapon in his hand, everything else about Hayato's demeanor is nothing but enthusiastic and friendly.
At Hayato's positive response to her attitude, Hotaru seems to brighten a little. It's always good to find adult figures that take fighting seriously! Especially on a school campus. It comes as no surprise that teachers are Seijyun are a tad more reserved on such matters.
As he mentions that no one that would fit the bill is around, Hotaru's shoulders slump just a little. Ending her visit to Taiyo this afternoon on the low note of socking a drama student in the face isn't really what she had in mind. But as Hayato continues, making his own offer, the young Kenpo artist perks up a little, taking another look over the teacher, clearly sizing him up differently in this new light.
She doesn't answer immediately, clearly weighing this opportunity heavily. In fact, Hayato has opened her eyes to a whole new angle to this school searching quest of hers. How can she /really/ know, without seeing the spirit of the teachers as well!? "I would be honored to have that opportunity," she finally replies, expression shifting from thoughtful to enthusiastic. She wipes the knuckles of the hand behind her back on the back of her blue vest. It'll stain, but she goes through a ton of these vests /anyway/. Bringing her other hand forward as well, she states openly, "My style is a traditional Kenpo, with some influences from my recent training at the Kyokugen Dojo. I'll be happy to demonstrate it!"
Hayato rubs his chin thoughtfully for a moment with his left hand. "Kyokugen, eh? I've heard some good things about them!" In fact, Hayato would probably get along rather well with Takuma, if the two of them were to meet. But that's for another time! Right now Hayato is about to help yet another young person embrace the blazing spirit of youth! Of course, if you're going to fight someone, it's only proper to give them your name first. "Name's Hayato Nekketsu, miss, and my style..." He grins for a moment. "Well, it's a mix of kendo, judo, and just about whatever else works."
Whatever his style is, the stance certainly isn't a standard kendo one. Hayato stands with his legs spread, left arm at his side, and his shinai held in his right hand, resting against his right shoulder. "Come at me whenever you're ready!" Hayato does have a fair bit of confidence, but it's not misplaced. Nor is he particularly arrogant... He's just interested in getting a chance to take a look at Hotaru's form before he has to start concentrating on trying to knock her around. Hayato's happy to offer pointers and instruction during a fight... But he doesn't pull his punches.
COMBATSYS: Hayato has started a fight here.
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Hayato 0/-------/-------|
As Hayato offers his name and adopts what Hotaru assumes is his ready stance... as unready as it may appear in her eyes, the younger fighter presses her hands together and offers a traditional bow toward the instructor. "My name is Hotaru Futaba, and here I come!"
Coming out of the bow, she crosses her arms in front of her, then exhales slowly, shifting her body so that her side is toward Hayato, offering as small a target as possible. One hand is forward at an angle, clearly intended for deflecting or light striking. Her other arm is bent at the elbow, her hand held up at near shoulder level. Clearly intended for attempting stronger blows where more momentum may be necessary. Her stance is relaxed, both hands open, but the palms are not directed flat out toward her opponent like those who prefer to grapple a lot might do.
After a few seconds in this stance, the girl leans forward into a rapid sprint toward the instructor. It isn't a suicidal dash, however, she's clearly bracing herself to attempt to weave around retaliation. If she manages to get in close, she'll grab hold of Hayato's arm and use the leverage to land a sequence of kicks... or more like steps, as she tries to run right up the front of the taller opponent before taking a leap from his shoulders into an acrobatic backflip through the air.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hayato
Hayato's arm gets snared, and he doesn't quite have time to shake Hotaru free. He does, however, have time to bring his free arm between Hotaru and himself. Her kicks slam against his thick forearm, though it doesn't prevent her from running all the way through her move. It does, however, mean that Hayato is in a far more ready position than he might have been if the kicks were landing cleanly.
When Hotaru backflips away from him, that's when Hayato leaps into action. Jumping up in the middle of Hotaru's flip, Hayato attempts to catch her while she's upside down, then carry her along as his jump takes them further upwards. As they begin to fall he makes a sharp twist of his body, sending the two of them into a rapid spin as he beings the girl crashing down towards the ground.
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Hotaru with Kaiten Shinai Otoshi.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Hayato
Getting caught upside down really puts the kid in a tough spot to react. In fact, the expression on her face as Hayato comes up and grabs hold of her makes it seem like this is an entirely new experience to the girl. No one's ever actually even /tried/ to do that before. She makes a feeble attempt to swat him off, but she's hardly in a position to do much about it. And when he has a grip on her, Hotaru tries to wriggle her way free on the way down, but all that ends up doing is putting her in a worse spot, such that by the time the two impact, she ends up getting even more of the brunt of the force than she would have otherwise.
Gasping, she rolls over to the side and presses off with her hands to jump back up to her feet quickly. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she grins just a little at Hayato. That someone would have the timing and wherewithal to snatch her like that seems to have impressed Hotaru, even if it ended badly for her.
"Neat stunt," she replies, buying a second to roll her arm behind her and focus on creating a small sphere of pure energy, bathing her entire arm in blue energy in the process. It takes a moment of concentration and effort to create it, but once she's satisfied, she swings her arm forward, launching the shimmering ball of force back at Hayato. Once it leaves her fingers, it will move with a respectable amount of speed.
COMBATSYS: Hayato endures Hotaru's Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Hayato
Hayato grins, tapping his shinai against his shoulder again as he jumps back to his feat. "Adaptability is key in combat! Got to be able to strike at whatever opportunities you're given. It's a lot like the rest of life, really!" Such sage advice. That may or may not have been partially plagarized from a fortune cookie a few nights ago.
Hotaru is granted a few moments to concentrate on building up her chi while Hayato speaks, but then he starts to move in toward her before she finishes. He doesn't even slow down when he sees the blast coming toward him, just barreling right on through it. No fear! If you're worried about getting hurt, then you aren't going to be able to win!
It was only a matter of time before Hayato actually made use of his shinai, of course. People don't carry around weapons without intending to use them. As he closes in on Hotaru the gym teacher lashes out with a horizontal strike, quickly following it up by sweeping back in the opposite direction. His arm then smoothly swings up before coming around to bring the shinai crashing down toward the top of Hotaru's head. It might just be bamboo, but it's still no fun to get hit by someone who knows how to use it.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Scolding Slash from Hayato with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
It's hard to say what prompted Hotaru to throw a second chiball Hayato's way. As the first one leaves her finger tips, she could clearly see that he is coming at her in spite the blue ball of force headed his way. Eyes widening, the girl rolls her arm back again, bathing the limb in a blue aura a second time. Gritting her teeth, she brings her arm forward at about the time he starts swinging at her. Waiting any longer and there's no way she would be able to maintain the focus to get the attack off.
As the shinai cracks her in the arm and comes back for the second swing, the girl flings the blue chiball directly into his chest at point blank just before the wooden weapon knocks aside her launching arm. "Yaa!" This spares her the blow to the head, but the two hits alone are enough to send her stumbling off to the side, her one arm reaching over to clench her fireball lobbing arm tightly, as if feeling a fair amount of pain after producing the two attacks from it.
Hayato staggers back, making a wild swing well over Hotaru's head as the explosion of blue chi goes off right in his chest, pushing him away and temporarily obscuring his vision. He shakes his head for a moment, then firmly plants his feet back on the ground. Grinning at Hotaru, Hayato slams his fists together for a moment. "That's the way to do it! Good job!"
The air around Hayato begins to shimmer for a moment, and then flame colored waves of chi begin rapidly rising off of his body as his muscles tense. "We're not done here yet, though! It'd be a crime if I don't push your limits and help you improve your skills. Better get ready!"
COMBATSYS: Hayato gathers his will.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Hayato
Steadying herself after a few steeps of careening off to the side, Hotaru snaps her attention back toward Hayato, at first bracing for an incoming attack. But as he takes a moment to collect an aura of energy about himself, the girl pauses.
The compliment earns him a smile, her serious expression softening just slightly as she nods in acknowledgement. She tries not to let such things go to her head, but compliments from 'mentor figures' are hard to ignore for the student that tries so hard to please. "I'll do my best!"
As the teacher is taking a moment to ready himself, Hotaru pauses for a moment to catch her breath. The hand that tightly grips her other arm finally lets go, whatever pain she felt there subdued enough to allow her to slip back into her ready stance and await to see how Hayato is going to push this demonstration to the limit.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Hayato
Standing back up straight, Hayato doesn't seem to mind the fact that he's given Hotaru a few moments to catch her breath. While it may be true that Hayato doesn't really believe in 'sparring', that doesn't mean every fight has to be a vicious affair. It simply means that you don't try to hold back on your techniques for fear of hurting your opponents. Hayato levels his shinai so that it's pointing right at Hotaru then, smiling at the girl. "Okay then, Hotaru... Here I come!"
The instructor charges across the ground toward Hotaru, right arm winding back for an overhanded strike meant to send the girl sprawling to the ground. "Let's see how you handle a little challenge!" And then the shinai comes swinging down...
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Hotaru with Burning Push-Ups.
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Hotaru 1/=======/=======|=------\-------\0 Hayato
And after Hotaru gets slammed to the ground, that's where the 'challenge' comes in. Because every time she tries to get up, Hayato smacks her back down with his shinai. If she tries to roll away, he smacks her back down. If she spends too long without doing anything, he smacks her anyway. Thankfully he doesn't keep this up all day, so he really only lashes her on the back two times... But he finishes it up with an upward sweep to knock the girl right back up off the ground. "Hyah!"
The first strike homes in on Hotaru's shoulder, sending her crashing right down to the ground with a gasp. Knowing the last thing she wants is to get hit again, her first instinct is to roll, pushing off with the arm on the side where her shoulder wasn't just smacked, only to get struck right back into being plastered against the ground. Her second attempt is push off with both of her hands into a backwards roll, but the experienced instructor is way too fast and is in by far the better position here, so she ends up getting smashed right back down.
The final sweep uprights Hotaru, who, when put back on her feet, stumbles several steps before finally stablizing. Her cheeks are flush from the pain the thwacks inflicted, but her clenched fists indicate that Hotaru is still good to go for the moment at least. Wow, classes here must be TOUGH, she muses, eying Hayato warily now. She'll be feeling those lashes on her back for a good while now.
"Okay," she replies, "Time to see what I can do!" And with that, the young fighter charges back toward Hayato, hopping when she's a few yards out to allow her to spin around once while in mid air. Before landing right in front of him, she swings out with both of her arms in windmilling strikes, intended to encourage him to defend high. But once her feet are on the ground, she continues striking rapidly, putting a respectable amount of force behind each blow, though clearly not everything she has into each strike. They're probbing hits, attempting to find a weakness in his defense with which to press a harder attack.
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
Hayato's large forearms make a rather respectable shield, and that is the purpose to which he puts them. Hotaru's blows crash into his guard, and none of the probing strikes quite manage to find the weakness they're looking for. Finally the teacher sees an opportunity to take a quick hop backwards, bringing him out of range of any further immediate attack.
Hayato looks at Hotaru thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his left hand, although his right hand holds his shinai in a ready position now. "Not bad, not bad. Your form is good, but you've definitely still got some room to improve. See, for example... When I blocked like this?" He shifts his arms back into the defensive pose he used, making movements similar to those which he used to block Hotaru's attack. "It was a good attempt, aiming high at first, then trying to keep pressing the attack from a lower angle. But if you're going to do that, you might want to try starting with one quick, straight blow at the weakest point of the guard. Exactly where that is will differ from person to person... But once you get a good hit in, if you immediately follow it up with some heavier attacks you'll probably blow right through their guard. Get it?" Explanation finished, Hayato drops back into his fighting stance, although he doesn't immediately move toward Hotaru. Got to give her a chance to absorb the lesson.
COMBATSYS: Hayato assists Hotaru.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
As Hayato hops away, Hotaru slides to a stop. Attempting to put anymore into the attack at that point would just be careless, the opportunity to slip a hit in was lost for that attempt. Taking a few steps back herself as the instructor begins to speak, Hotaru's blue eyes focus on the demonstration intently. The way he had defended her last attack certainly meant there was something to be learned by what he could share.
She nods as he asks if she got it. Clenching and unclenching her fingers a little as she strives to pay attention and block out the pain from the attacks endured thus far. "Okay," Hotaru replies, intent on demonstrating that she understands with the best way possible - action.
Again she runs at him, like the previous attack, hopping into the air like before. Again two strikes are made, this time attempting to fake out his defense by aiming lower than her leaping attack would have implied. The second strike is high, however, toward his chest, but is also quick.
Both blows are a set up for the final attack; a palm press toward his stomach. She leans into the attack, lending both torso and leg strength to the blow. Her other arm punches out in a palm press in the opposite direction, with less force, clearly intended to act as a counter-balance to keep her from falling forward from the effort. "Haaa!"
COMBATSYS: Hayato fails to counter Soushou Shin from Hotaru with Counter Thrust.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Hayato
Of course, just because Hayato has given Hotaru some good advice, it doesn't mean that he's just going to stand there and let her easily practice it. Certainly he wants to help her improve, but that doesn't mean he enjoys getting smacked around. His intent to prevent that should be pretty clear once Hotaru is airborne. His arm swings back, then starts bringing his fist down in an overhead blow toward Hotaru...
...that doesn't quite make it. Hotaru is in and under his arm before he can connect, and now there's no time at all to mount a defense. Both strikes land cleanly on the man's broad chest, and then the full-body palm strike to his stomach sends him stagger back several paces. "Haha!" He coughs for a moment, getting his breath back. "Well done!"
Whew! Getting the attack through Hayato's swift retaliation leaves Hotaru feeling pretty good. She maintains the pose she ended in for a few long seconds before she finally is able to retract her arm and return to a full standing ready stance and evaluate the effect her attack had. Even though the palm press did earn her a cough from the instructor, she can also tell he weathered it pretty well. He looks pretty tough and his physique suggests he can weather pretty hard attacks.
She'd like to stop and catch her breath, but at this point, she feels she needs to keep pushing herself harder, not stopping for tea time just because she managed to land a hit.
When she runs forward this time, it looks like she intends to run right past Hayato. But her arms leash out at the last moment to try and latch onto his own strong arm and then she'll leap into the air into a backflip, attempting to twist the tall man's arm backward and all the way up behind him, forcing him offbalance into a forward faceplant.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Hayato with Quick Throw.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
With Hotaru leaping for his arm, the obvious course of action for Hayato is to yank the limb out of the way. He's not quite quick enough to do so, however, and Futaba manages to wrap her hands around her target. He then thinks that perhaps he can move with her, and disrupt her ability to get enough leverage. He misjudges just how much force Hotaru puts into the attack, though. If she was just hanging on his arm, he'd be able to support her quite easily. With momentum and pulling, however, it's enough for her to twist him off balance, and down he goes.
Despite falling on his face, Hayato isn't slowed down for long. He doesn't even bother with trying to get up right away... not when Hotaru is still in reach. Long limbs can be handy things. He lashes out with one leg in a sweeping kick, meant to knock Hotaru's legs out from under her. He then quickly flips over onto his back before snapping out with another kick, this one aimed to crash into the girl as she falls.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Hayato's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
The first kick actually does knock the girl's legs out from under, catching her almost immediately after she touched down from the flip. "Ah!" she cries out, falling toward the ground. But she isn't completely helpless, putting her arms out to intersect the incoming follow up kick with just enough brace that she doesn't get knocked silly. Thus it is that she lands with a light thud on the ground, not far from Hayato while he's still lying down. She's quick to roll up to her feet and press the attack, though not likely any quicker than the instructor is to get up.
When she begins swinging again, she ducks low, aiming a palm press toward his knee as if intending to knock his stance loose - difficult to defend against from the small statured fighter. The next swing is high, the girl coming up out of her crouch to press the attack. And then after that it's a flurry of additional strikes as she tries to make good on the rapid-striking attack she failed to get through his guard before, "Sou...shou..."
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Hayato
A good effort, but not quite enough! After all, Hayato /did/ just give Hotaru instruction on how to get through his guard... He's got to awesome she's going to try to take it to heart. Once again his arms come up to defend against the swinging attacks, but he doesn't miss the sudden low palmstrike. Rather than lower his guard, however, Hayato stops it by shoving his knee forward right into the strike. It sends a brief stab of pain through his leg, but he was ready for it, and not losing his balance is the important thing here. "Don't be disappointed, you've got the right idea!"
And since Hotaru didn't manage to get through his guard, it leaves Hayato in a good position to press the attack back to her. His right arm swings out in what looks at first glance to be a sweeping strike with the shinai. Hayato doesn't follow through with that tactic, though, instead taking a sudden step forward and twisting his arm around so that he's actually trying to /punch/ Hotaru with the hand holding the weapon, driving his fist up and into her ribcage.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Hayato's Medium Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Hayato
By the time Hotaru's attacks wind down, it's clear that she's running out of steam, each swing coming slower than the previous. When she finally relents, she's looking pretty worn out.
Weary, but not out, the girl weaves out of the way of the incoming punch at the last second, the instructor's hand brushing against her vest at her side, but not actually managing to inflict any damage. From this turned position, the girl strikes out with her near arm with an open palm toward his chest. Hardly a punch, more intended as a shove, clearly striving to buy herself a little bit of space to react further.
COMBATSYS: Hayato dodges Hotaru's Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Hayato
There are many people who are more fleet on their feet than Hayato, but just because he's a pretty big guy doesn't mean he's slow. There are plenty of sports out there that require some decent agility... and if there's a sport out there that Hayato's not good at, he hasn't heard of it yet.
Starting from the moment Hayato tried to punch Hotaru, the next few moves happen in a blink of an eye. The Futaba girl twists away from Hayato's arm, then lashes out with her own strike. Hayato similar spins out of the way of that, bringing his arm up and around as he does so. Even as his feet are coming back to a firm rest on the ground he's already trying to lash his shinai down on the back of Hotaru's shoulders.
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Hotaru with Shinai Slap.
[ \ < > ///////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Hayato
To the outside observer, the entire exchange of attacks, from blow, to counter blow, to the final lash with the Shinai that cracks down on Hotaru's back all happened in the space of a second. To the girl that's now offbalance from her previous attack though, the Shinai seems to move in with plodding inevitability. Try as she might, she just can't twist herself out of the way of the stick and the wooden *snap* of it connecting with her back is timed perfectly with the gasp of air as she exhales, no longer able to keep going any longer, "A-ah!"
Falling forward from the attack, she stumbles to the ground, knees into the grass, palms pressed down to keep her from falling the rest of the way down. Her hair clings to the sides of her face, sticky with perspiration as the young fighter pants, breathing in the oxygen her body needs to make up for the pace she had sustained for the last minute of intense fighting against the instructor.
Several seconds pass, but she isn't about to get back up now, succumbing to the demands of her body's need for a break now.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayato 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
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Hayato 1/-------/=======|
It only takes a few moments before it's clear that Hotaru won't be getting back to her feet anytime in the next few moments. And while Hayato will, as shown, hit someone while they're down, he's not the kind of person who's going to hit them while they're out. Settling down into a more casual stance, Hayato inhales deeply, then cracks his neck. That was some good exercise, and Hotaru's definitely got a fighter's spirit. If Hayato had let his guard down he might well have been in some trouble there.
After giving Hotaru a few moments to catch her breath, Hayato walks over and reaches down with his left hand to offer her some help getting up. "You did a good job there! Looks like whoever you've been training with knows what they're doing, and you've got some talent. Still got room to improve, but the same could be said for pretty much everbody." He flashes her a friendly grin. "Hopefully I'll be seeing you here at Taiyo next year, miss Futaba."
COMBATSYS: Hayato has ended the fight here.
Though clearly still winded, the pig-tailed fighter accepts the hand up, able to stand on her own two feet after leaning against his arm for only a second. Lifting her own arm to wipe across her brow, she smiles at Hayato, "Thank you. I am glad that I was able to honor both my father's lessons as well as what Ryo-sensei has been teaching me these last months. It was also an honor to learn from you today, Hayato-sensei."
Taking a couple steps back, she grins, then offers a solemn bow like the one she did at the start of the spar. "You've given me a lot to think on. And for that I am greatful." Her expression warms in spite the weariness she's feeling now. Time to go back to the Dojo and get cleaned up... the night's training routines are still ahead of her! "Good bye!" she offers, waving her hand once, then turning to start walking off.
Log created on 19:49:54 06/04/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 00:49:20 06/05/2007.